USW Director of Regulatory and State Policy Anna Fendley appeared on The Leslie Marshall Show last week to discuss women’s activism at home and internationally.
As the USW marks women’s history month, she also addressed the work the union is doing to advance women’s interests, including protecting the USW’s health care workers, many of whom are women, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since the 1980s, the USW’s Women of Steel program has worked to empower women leaders and advocate for issues that are important to women both in the community and globally.
“The only way someone is going to join a union and be a part of this movement is if women see themselves in the leadership,” Fendley said.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the need for occupational protections for health care workers across the board, the USW has long fought for safety advancements for its roughly 50,000 health care worker members.
Fendley said the rate of violence in the health care sector has risen over the past decade. In response, the USW continues to fight for the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act, which passed the House last year but has stalled in the Senate.
Now, facing COVID-19, the union is fighting for an emergency OSHA standard and other measures to help keep them safe.
“I think we are in a moment that will go down in history for women who are stepping up on the front lines of this pandemic. Thank you to them,” Fendley said. “We have fought for you, and we will keep fighting for you.”
For the entire interview about the USW’s efforts to increase women’s union leadership and workplace protections, listen below: